Durham, officially County
Durham, county, 1,015 sq mi (2,629 sq km), NE England, on the
North Sea between the Tees and Tyne rivers; administratively, Durham is a
unitary authority (since 2009). The administrative center is Durham, site of one of England's
finest Norman cathedrals. The region is low-lying along the coast, rising
inland to the Pennines. A large
portion of the land area is devoted to agriculture. Dairy farming is common;
cattle and sheep are raised. Oats, wheat, barley, potatoes, and turnips are
grown. Industry is concentrated along the Tyne and the Tees. Shipbuilding
(also along the Wear River) and coal mining were historically important.
Electrical goods, clothing, textiles, paint, organs, and plastics are the
chief products of Durham's light industry. The area was occupied by the
Romans and subsequently became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. From pre-Norman times
until 1836, the bishops of Durham intermittently exercised palatine powers
over the county. The powers were most important during the Middle Ages.
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